After having disappeared for a week, Astrid’s 13-year-old son Phillip returns home one day without saying a word. Both his mother and teachers suspect that his disappearance may be related to the loss of his father. Only gradually does everyday life get back on track. Astrid now finds herself confronted with questions that provide a whole new perspective on her middle-class existence and her career in Berlin’s cultural sector. Her ideas about art also begin to change. At home, it becomes more and more difficult for this single mother to accept that her son is leading his own life. And then Phillip is admitted to hospital with blood poisoning. Astrid is a nervous wreck, wiped out by worry, guilt and her feelings of failure. But Phillip and his little sister do not turn away from her. The family may be disintegrating, but only to form itself anew.
The camera in this film remains at a discrete distance, providing mother and children with the space and time they need to rediscover and reappraise their feelings. These scenes are framed by others depicting school rehearsals of Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, the purchase of a broken bicycle and other loose storylines that all echo each other.